Crafting Trend: Vintage Maps and Postcards as the Building Blocks for Custom Stationery

By Lauren Sherman
September 10, 2010

Elise Pelletier Indie stationery companies are plentiful these days. Every city, town, and village boasts a passionate paper maker with an incredible skill. But while there are plenty of folks who specialize in manual letterpressing or hand-drawn sketches, it’s rare to find a stationery designer who incorporates other mediums into her work. Foreshadow Press founder Elise Pelletier takes vintage postcards, maps, stamps, and images to create custom stationery and invitations for her clients. We chatted with Pelletier about strategies for finding great, affordable maps and postcards on eBay, as well as some her favorite invitation and stationery trends.

The Inside Source: How did Foreshadow Press get its start?

Elise Pelletier: Foreshadow Press got it's start while I lived in Austin, Texas. I worked at a stationery store and also apprenticed at Serie Project with the Master screen printers. Both of these experiences led to the idea of starting a custom stationery company. It started small and grew until I was able to pursue designing and printing full time.

TIS: You use vintage postcards and maps quite often when you're designing stationery. Do you have any tips on what to search for when choosing a map or postcard?

EP: This has been a new direction for me, and it works particularly well for wedding stationery. When searching for maps and postcards, I usually search for maps that would include landmarks or towns nearby to where the wedding is being held. You often have to get really specific with your search words and sometimes the search can be tricky. A lot of the maps I use are from late 1800s to early 1900s, which often means the location (town or region) may not be on the maps. Although it can be tedious, it's always really exciting to stumble upon some amazing maps.

Repurposed Stationery TIS: What other stationery items can you find on eBay?

EP: I love looking for old stamps and other materials that I can collage with for my personal art projects. Lately, I've been buying different colors of baker's twine, which I use with various stationery projects as well as packaging for completed invitation projects.

TIS: What are some of the biggest trends in invites right now that you enjoy incorporating into your work?

EP: I think personalized stationery that evokes something about the couple, whether it's a place, travel, or other connection to the relationship has gotten very popular. These ideas have been captured by a lot of talented designers in really creative ways, i.e. different materials and formats. Sometimes the typical "pretty" invitations with flowers doesn't tell enough about the couple. I've really gotten into the idea of place as a starting point to creating a design. Maps and other vintage materials are not only beautiful but go beyond the typical wedding invitation.

TIS: Besides stationery/invitations, what other kind of art do you do?

EP: I love creating fine art screen prints & posters, collages, and handmade books. I also take a lot of polaroids and create animated gifts as of late.